Please note: we have been online over ten years, and we want The Trek BBS to continue as a free site. But if you block our ads we are at risk.Please consider unblocking ads for this site - every ad you view counts and helps us pay for the bandwidth that you are using. Thank you for your understanding.

Welcome! The Trek BBS is the number one place to chat about Star Trek with like-minded fans. Please login to see our full range of forums as well as the ability to send and receive private messages, track your favourite topics and of course join in the discussions.

If you are a new visitor, join us for free. If you are an existing member please login below. Note: for members who joined under our old messageboard system, please login with your display name not your login name.

This is the WIP & Info thread for the New Haven Chronicles. Before I get to the art, I'm going to cover some of the back story that sets up the universe as well as some of the key factors which drive the plot and action of the story. If you just want cool pics, then skip to the end of this post, because this is going to take a while.

The New Haven Chronicles is a military science fiction action-drama, set in 2264. The series takes a realistic approach towards the military space opera genre and in many cases often approaches hard science fiction. For example, there are no aliens, no FTL travel, and humanity has yet to move beyond the inner asteroid field. The entire series unfolds within the inner solar system, treating the vast distances between Earth and Mars as what they truly are...vast distances.

Unfolding in space as well as on Earth, Luna, and Mars, New Haven is the story of an Alliance of Solar Corporations attempting to maintain their technological and economical superiority, while the United Nations asserts its growing independence. Humanity has been dependent on the Corporations for much of the advances beyond Luna, including the proliferation of fusion technology upon which both sides of the conflict rely heavily. However now that the UN is beginning to stand on its own, the Alliance fears losing everything it has worked so long and hard to build. But that's hardly a reason for war and both sides realize there is far more at stake than just economic independence.

During their time in space, the Alliance has developed into a free and separate society, independent of Earth and the remainder of humanity. They look down on their Earth born brethren, even though prolonged living in space has brought on a waisting degenerative illness to many within the Alliance. And now, with their lives on the line and the risk of their society dying out, the Alliance is pressing the issue of returning home on their own terms...among other goals.

The series takes its name from the artificial island, New Haven, built in the 21st century by the Pax Corporation as a corporate headquarters and location to test viable fusion technology. Located off the coast of Newfoundland in the North Atlantic, (specifically over the Flemish Cap) and now occupied by the UN, regaining control of the island is of little strategic importance for the Alliance, but remains an issue that could make or break the morale of each side.

The New Haven Chronicles begins with the book Orbital Decay, taking place more than a year into the conflict. By this time, the UN's fuel reserves are dwindling and with an Alliance blockade preventing trade with the neutral Corporations, the UN is facing a ticking clock. Time is running out and everyone knows that soon, the vast UN war machine will come grinding to a halt. All the Alliance must do is wait them out, despite those within the Alliance that want to push their superiority over the UN. As these two forces fight for control within the Alliance, the UN realizes that if drastic actions are not taken, they will soon find themselves on the bitter end of Corporate Rule.

New Haven, is foremost a military drama. I've done my best to create what I believe to be a realistic depiction of a real United Nations military force which might exist in the future. With that comes the discipline and duty that make the military what is, requiring those that serve to follow a strict code of conduct. This is my way of saying that some things we're familiar with, won't happen in New Haven. There will be no crazy accession of ranking promotions, as a mere grunt steps up to command an entire army. One person will not decide the fate of the entire conflict. People will be transfered while others will die. In many ways, I like to think of this as a sci-fi version of Band of Brothers & Generation Kill, both of which have served as heavy influences in the style and themes that I plan to convey..

Second, playing a less prominent role, though still important, is the role of technology. New Haven assumes that a number of technologies exist without the inherent dire circumstances that are often associated with them. For example, wide spread genetic manipulation and alteration is common, particularly among the Alliance. Advanced Artificial Intelligence is common as well and several Sentient AI's play a prominent role in the story, with one such AI being a main character.

In other areas, it may seem as though certain technologies have progressed very little. For example, each side makes use of laser and rail gun technology, but both technologies are plagued with strategic limitations and far from the common style of rapid firing battles we're used to seeing. There will be no scenes of ships closing to point blank range as each ship beats it's opponent mercilessly with ungodly amounts of weapons fire.

And that in part is what the first image posted below represents. Dynamic Orbital Combat. To put it briefly, ever ship orbits a planet or moon, and in doing so is distinctively guided by that orbit in terms of how their weapons can be deployed. Slowing your speed and moving into a higher orbit will extend your orbital duration and the amount of time you can engage a target. Likewise, moving into a lower orbit and increasing your speed will shorten your orbit, making it much more difficult to engage your target or be engaged by that target.

Distances are also an issue, but combating distances and their orbits is a whole separate post, which will be explained later. Needless to say, distances matter and it takes time for your weapons to get from your line of fire to the target you're shooting at. Because it takes time and many weapons are line of sight, if your enemy moves during that time, which your enemy is always doing, then you miss.

Sensors: the base sensor system for both sides is an advanced LIDAR system, couple with several other sensor specific systems to determine life signs and various other details. There is no stealth in the traditional sense. When you move, everyone sees it. Electronic Counter measures exist however, which allow both sides to use decoys, sensor shadows and silhouettes to trick LIDAR systems. So rather than hiding outright, your sensor signature may appear larger or smaller than it actually is. This is adventurous when launching large numbers of missiles, the primary means of offensive weapons in use by both sides.

Both sides use multiple independent targetable warhead missiles...like ICBMs as their primary offensive weapon. Each warhead carries a nuclear powered x-ray laser. Each side deploys various CIWS to defeat the warheads before they burn a hole in their hull.

There are no space fighters in this series. There are however UAV sensor drones deployed from ships.
Additionally, each side makes use of a vast number of unmanned vehicles, ranging from air superiority fighters down to heavy armored units and light support units.

There is more...much more that I could get into, but I don't want to try and skim over everything in one post.
My primary goal with the New Haven Chronicles, is to create a living and breathing universe, in which almost any type of story could be told. More than anything, I want this series to serve as a vehicle for telling military and technology driven science fiction, but that by no means limits what can or might be done in the future. I even envision at some point in the future, taking a page from Star Trek:TNG and after this particular conflict is over, progressing in time to some future point and beginning a new series set in this universe...perhaps war/action/drama driven, or perhaps more exploratory in nature. Who knows. It's just ideas at this point.

Anyway, as I mentioned previously, the first book in this series is title Orbital Decay, and it's my hope to have it ready for sale by the end of the year. I'm in the second draft right now and working my way through the first round of revisions. If any of this sounds interesting, then I hope you'll tune in and follow along. I think it's going to be an interesting ride.

That's a lot to get through, so here's a map. Everyone loves map. More to come soon.

It's military sci-fi in 22nd century, influenced by Band of Brothers and Generation Kill...with spaceships. The story is about a war between Corporations on Mars and the United Nations on Earth and is contained entirely within the inner solar system. The series stresses realism, science, military service, and strong character development.

I was a little put off at first when I read the words Haven, and Pax corp. They just seemed too "done". Anyway- a silly point on my part. I actually became quite fascinated by the story as I read on. I would certainly like to continue on this journey!

One point- not a nit pick or anything. I actually think sensor cloaking would be around by that time period. I say a really cool story on discovery over a company that is developing military sensor cloaking. They covered a tank with devices that take the surrounding temperature signatures (in this case of plants around it), and projected those temperatures (or something to that affect) onto the entire hull, and it just blended in like the perfect camo. It's like, there was a tank- and then it was just plants. I'm going to look it up and see if I can get the accurate info if you're interested. lol...

That sounds interesting and there might be some use for that, but it would ultimately be defeated or at least combated by any vehicle that uses a sensor other than infrared. All it's doing is masking it's thermal signature, which if adapted to a soldier level could come in handy but for larger vehicles which are giving off a host of EM signatures to say nothing of still showing up on visual cameras as well as Radar or LIDAR...you're not really hiding at all.

My point about stealth was mainly aimed at ships in space, to overcome the trope of sneaking up unseen on any enemy for a surprise attack. In space, there's no hiding once you ignite your fusion engines. You engine output will light you up like a nuclear bomb going off.

Here's some more art:
Three versions of the United Nations Solar Command Logo:

The Velos Corporation was a significant member of the Alliance until the start of the war, an attack on the UN Lunar Shipyards and Lunar Colony, killed a large number of civilians. Rather than continuing to support the Alliance, they withdrew their membership and declared their neutrality in the conflict.

Prior to the start of the war, they served as a major defense contractor to the UN, supplying much of the war machine that the UN now uses to combat the Alliance. Their own fledgling military is small, but highly advanced.

The Corporate Alliance, consisting of eleven Solar Corporations (a Solar Corporation is any corporation that can sustain itself independently from Earth), ranging from fuel and food production to advanced technology development and military private contractors.

I suppose that's one way to explain it. The real reason is that the original graphic I found online to base the solar system on, was created while Pluto was still a planet...so when I drew the solar system, I never bothered to correct the mistake. I'd like to redraw the logo at some point, because I'm not happy with the spacing of the rope, so if/when that happens I'll likely correct the problem.

So enough logos. Here's something decidedly more military in nature: The AR-558 Weapon Systems Block II Carbine...though interestingly enough, I just now noticed this uses a fourth variant of the SOLCOMM logo.
This is an ongoing WIP and has seen more revisions and changes than almost any other design in the entire series. There are a number of points on the graphic that are inaccurate and will be changed. At this point, the page is merely designed to show what direction the design of the weapon is taking. The overall graphic (inspired by the m4-sopmod poster) is far from complete.

This is an older design, in universe, that isn't as common as some newer transports, though still makes an appearance from time to time in the background. Intentionally designed after the X-33: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X-33 as well as John Eaves concept art for the vessel seen flying over the moon in the opening scene of Enterprise. I have the outline for a side view, but it's in another file. I'll try to grab it and update this one later on.

I keep meaning to get back to my Galaxy Class Upgrade project, but I just haven't been in the mood to work on it. I have been moving forward with New Haven though.
I realized I hadn't posted anything new updates here, so better late than never.
1